Computer-implemented securities trading system with a virtual specialist function

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented financial management system provides the trading of securities via a network using virtual currency. A server computer receives buy and sell orders for derivative financial instruments from a plurality of client computers. The server computer attempts to match the buy and sell orders and then generates a market price through the use of a virtual specialist program executed by the server computer. The virtual specialist program responds to an imbalance in the matching of buy and sell orders. The virtual currency accumulated by HSX account holders as a result of successful trading may be converted to another currency, credited towards the cost of merchandise provided through a vendor&#39;s web site, etc.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/465,607,filed Dec. 17, 1999, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/184,571, filed Nov. 2, 1998 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,174),which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/620,906, filed Mar. 25, 1996 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,176), all ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to computer-implemented financialsystems, and in particular to an improved automated securities tradingsystem.

Computer-implemented securities trading systems are well known in theart. One such system is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,044,issued to Kalmus et al., entitled “Automated Securities Trading System”,and incorporated by reference herein. These computer-implementedsecurities trading systems obtain bid and asked trades based on the bidand asked prices. However, there is generally still a human component tosuch systems.

For example, most financial markets also employ one or more marketmakers called “specialists.” These specialists fill customer orders fromthe specialist's inventory position if there are no matches for thecustomer orders in the open market. In the prior art, the specialistfunction is not automated, but is performed by a firm or individual.Thus there is a need in the art for an improved computer-implementedtrading system that includes an automated specialist function to createa market for the securities traded and to lessen the volatility ofsmaller securities markets.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and toovercome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading andunderstanding the present specification, the present invention disclosesmethod, apparatus and article of manufacture for a computer-implementedfinancial management system that permits the trading of securities via anetwork. In accordance with the present invention, a server computerreceives buy and sell orders for derivative financial instruments from aplurality of client computers. The server computer matches the buy orderto the sell orders and then generates a market price through the use ofa virtual specialist program executed by the server computer. Thevirtual specialist program responds to an imbalance in the matching ofthe buy and sell orders.

An object of the present invention is to lessen the price volatility ofderivative financial instruments traded in narrower markets.

A feature of the present invention is a virtual specialist program thatengages in trading in the market to offset the price volatility and toprovide liquidity to the market.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers representcorresponding parts throughout:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary hardware environment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart illustrating the general logic of a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating the logic of the pricing/tradingprogram of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating the logic of the generate marketprice program of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram illustrating the logic of the virtualspecialist program of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram illustrating the logic of the stop tradingprogram of the first embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

According to the present invention, a computer-implemented tradingsystem is provided for derivative financial instruments. Thecomputer-implemented trading system accepts buy and sell orders fromtraders for the derivative financial instruments, sets a market pricebased on the supply and demand, and participates in the market as atrader in order to minimize price volatility. One embodiment of thepresent invention is a computer-implemented Hollywood Stock Exchange(HSX), which may be implemented as a simulation (i.e., game) or as anactual trading system for derivative financial instruments representingmovies, talent, CDs, and television programs. These derivatives could bepurchased with virtual currency known as Hollywood dollars (H$) whichare controlled by a virtual reserve bank program.

In one representative embodiment of the present invention, thederivative financial instruments are identified by a Current TradingList displayed for the traders that comprises a list of movies invarious stages of production, talent, and other entertainment-orientedassets. The list contains:

name of the derivative financial instrument;

genre of the movie (action-adventure, mystery, western, comedy, etc.);

production status (scripting, pre-production, filming, editing, release,home-video, etc.);

number of shares in circulation;

last trading price (printed every 15 minutes)

price movement (i.e. +/−H$) since the previous midnight (PST);

price movement since the previous mid-day;

price movement year to date;

Traders can view the list sorted by:

name, alphabetically;

genre, alphabetically;

productions status, alphabetically;

most active (number of shares traded yesterday);

biggest gainers;

biggest losers; and

fastest movers today (e.g., fastest 20 movers up and fastest 20 moversdown).

Similar information would be provided for other derivative financialinstruments offered on the Hollywood Stock Exchange.

Each trader's portfolio is identified by a Portfolio data structure thatcomprises the trader's account status. This information includes:

the amount of cash in the trader's account (paid interest at the systemdiscount rate plus some increment, compounded daily);

current percentage rate paid on cash balances;

the total value of held stocks at the last selling price;

the total value of held bonds at the last selling price;

total portfolio value (TPV) (cash+bonds+stocks);

percentage of TPV in cash;

percentage of TPV in bonds; and

percentage of TPV in stocks.

Traders can generate any number of different reports for display,including:

Lists of stocks and bonds being traded (see above);

index of total Hollywood stocks (HSXI) expressed as a number, with 1000defined as the aggregate total stock price value on opening day, whereinHSXI=(today's gross stock-value)/(opening day gross stock-value);

index of total Hollywood bonds (HBXI) expressed as a number, with 1000defined as the aggregate total bond price value on opening day, whereinHBXI=((today's gross bond-value)/(opening day gross bond-value));

index of total Hollywood Stock Exchange (HMXI) comprised of all stocksand bonds, and expressed as a number, with 1000 as the aggregate totalstock price value on opening, wherein HMXI=((today's grossmarket-value)/(opening day gross market-value));

lists of the top market performers, e.g., the top 10 traders inpercentage portfolio growth calculated as net portfolio value−change=(%change of cash)+(% change of stocks)+(% change of bonds), and for eachof the categories: yesterday (midnight to midnight), last week (7 days,ending midnight, each Thursday), last month (closes at midnight lastcalendar day of month), last quarter (closes at midnight on last day oflast month/quarter), year-to-date (running daily total of percentagevalue changes)/(days for year-to-date), and annually (closes at midnighton December 31 each year);

overall market condition report, including a list of stopped issueswith:

name;

last trading price;

time that stop-trade condition occurred;

percentage the issue actually moved on-the-day before the stop-trade;

number of total shares and/or bonds traded today;

dollar value of total trades today;

number of buy and sell trades today; and

number of buy and sell trades this month.

Use of the above information guides traders in making future buy andsell orders.

With reference to FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrates an exemplaryhardware environment for one embodiment of the present invention. Moreparticularly, a typical distributed computer system is illustrated,which uses the Internet 10 to connect client computers 12 executing forexample, Web browsers, to server computers 14 executing a computerprogram embodying the present invention. A typical combination ofresources may include client computers 12 that are personal computers orwork stations connected via the Internet 10 to server computers 14 thatare personal computers, work stations, minicomputers, or mainframes.

Generally, both the client computers 12 and the server computers 14 arecomprised of one or more CPUs 16, various amounts of RAM storingcomputer programs 20 and other data, and other components typicallyfound in computers. In addition, both the client computers 12 and theserver computers 14 may include one or more monitors, and fixed orremovable data storage devices 20 such as hard disk drives, floppy diskdrives, and/or CD-ROM drives. Also, input devices, such as mousepointing devices and keyboards, may be included.

Both the client computers 12 and the server computers 14 operate underthe control of an operating system, such as Windows, Macintosh, UNIX,etc. Further, both the client computers 12 and the server computers 14each execute one or more computer programs 18 under the control of theirrespective operating systems. The present invention is preferablyimplemented as one or more computer programs 18 executed by the servercomputer 14, although in alternative embodiments these computer programs18 may also be executed on the client computer 12.

Generally, the computer programs 18 implementing the present inventionare tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium, e.g., one or moreof the fixed and/or removable data storage devices 20 attached to thecomputer. Under control of the operating system, the computer programs18 may be loaded from the data storage devices 20 into the RAM of thecomputer for subsequent execution by the CPU 16. The computer programs18 comprise instructions which, when read and executed by the computer,causes the computer to perform the steps necessary to execute the stepsor elements of the present invention.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the exemplary environmentillustrated in FIG. 1 is not intended to limit the present invention.Indeed, those skilled in the art will recognize that other alternativehardware environments may be used without departing from the scope ofthe present invention.

With reference to FIG. 2, a flowchart illustrates the general logic ofone embodiment of the present invention. Block 200 represents the servercomputer 14 waiting for the next event to occur. Once the event occurs,control is transferred to blocks 202-224 to identify the event andrespond accordingly.

Block 202 is a decision block that represents the server computer 14determining whether it received a request to display data from theclient computer 12. If so, block 204 represents the server computer 14transmitting data to the client computer 12 for subsequent display. Thedata transmitted for display preferably includes at least three types ofdata: the current list of trading derivative financial instruments, thetrader's portfolio, and other reports generated by the server computer14.

Block 206 is a decision block that represents the server computer 14determining whether it received a request to submit a buy order from theclient computer 12 for a particular derivative financial instrument,e.g., stock or bond. If so, block 208 represents the server computer 14processing the buy order by placing it in a queue in the memory of theserver computer 14. The buy order is a data structure comprising:

trader's account number;

trader's name;

the time and date of the order;

the stock or bond to buy;

the cash balance in the trader's account; and

a text-field where the trader may enter the total number to buy(generally in multiples of 100).

In one embodiment of the present invention, the buy order waits in thequeue for the expiration of a predetermined “sweep pricing cycle.” Thesweep pricing cycle occurs periodically, such as every 15 minutes, orduring another specified time interval. The market price the traderactually pays for the derivative financial instrument is determined bythe aggregate supply/demand for the derivative financial instrument atthe end of the sweep pricing cycle during which the order was placed.

The market price is set by the pricing/trading program executed by theserver computer, which is described below in FIG. 3. The trader'saccount is then charged the market price for the derivative financialinstrument. If the purchase uses up all available cash in the trader'saccount, the trader is “loaned” enough money to pay for the purchase,and their account is charged interest at a predetermined rate, e.g., 18%a year compounded daily, on the negative account balance. The interestis charged against the trader's account until they accumulate more cashto zero out the balance, either by selling stocks or buying dollars.

Block 210 is a decision block that represents the server computer 14determining whether it received a request to submit a sell order fromthe client computer 12. If so, block 212 represents the server computer14 processing the sell order by placing it in queue in the memory of theserver computer 14. The sell order is a data structure comprising:

trader's account number;

-   -   trader's name;    -   the time and date of the order;    -   the stock or bond to sell;    -   the amount of the stock or bond in the trader's account; and    -   a text-field where the trader may enter the total number to sell        (generally in multiples of 100).

Like the buy order, the sell order waits in the queue for the expirationof the predetermined sweep pricing cycle. The market price at which thetrader actually sells the derivative financial instrument is determinedby the aggregate supply/demand for the derivative financial instrumentat the end of the sweep pricing cycle during which the order was placed.The market price is set by the pricing/trading program executed by theserver computer, which is described below in FIG. 3. The trader'saccount is then credited with the market price for the derivativefinancial instrument.

The sell order can be either produced by a trader or generated by theserver computer 14, as will be explained in more detail below. For asell order produced by a trader, he views his list of stocks or bonds ona monitor attached to the client computer and chooses to sell a quantityat the market price.

When the trader requests to view the list of stocks, the server computer14 transmits certain information to the client computer 12 for display,including, for each stock owned, the last trading price (LTP), thequantity of stocks, the purchase price, and the date purchased.Similarly, when viewing the list of bonds, the server computer 14transmits certain information to the client computer 12 for display,including, for each bond owned, the last trading price (LTP), theinterest rate being earned for each kind of bond, the quantity of bonds,the purchase price, and the date purchased.

Block 214 is a decision block that represents the server computer 14determining whether an internal timer for the sweep pricing cycle hasexpired. If so, block 216 represents the server computer 14 executing apricing/trading program as described in FIG. 3.

Block 218 is a decision block that represents the server computer 14determining whether it received a request to change the discount rate.If so, block 220 represents the server computer 14 executing a discountrate program. In order to add or subtract liquidity, the server computer14 occasionally steps in to act as a virtual reserve bank program andadjust the discount rate. The discount rate is adjusted based on theperformance of the specific industry of the market. For the HollywoodStock Exchange, the discount rate is adjusted to add or subtractliquidity to affect the growth of the entertainment industry. When theserver computer 14 lowers the discount, all the bonds seem to be abetter deal, because the bonds are paying a fixed rate interest thatnever changes. This encourages traders to buy more bonds, and such surgein buying demand causes a correlated increase in bond prices asdescribed above. The same thing happens to stocks, because traders aremaking less money on the interest being paid on the cash balance intheir trading account. When the server computer 14 raises the discountrate, the bonds seem to be a worse deal, since their advantage over thediscount is smaller. Thus, the server computer 14 relaxes the buyingpressures or demands for bonds, which should result in additional sellorders, or at least slow the buying of bonds, thus decreasing theirprices as they trade in the market. Likewise, stocks seem lessattractive, since traders could make more money by keeping cash in theiraccounts and getting interest on it.

Block 222 is a decision block that represents the server computer 14determining whether it received a request to revise the derivative list.If so, block 224 represents the server computer 14 executing a listingprogram. The server computer 14 determines whether the list ofderivatives trading in the system should be revised. The list could berevised to reflect new derivative offerings, expired derivatives, anddelisted derivatives.

When a new derivative is offered, the price is based on the derivative'spotential value. For example, for a new stock offering, which representsa movie on the Hollywood Stock Exchange, the initial price of the stockcould be based on the movie's potential box office revenue. For a bondoffering, which represents talent on the Hollywood Bond Exchange, theprice of the bond could be based on the Hollywood Reporter's Star PowerIndex. A bond representing a talent with a low Star Power Index of 15would be issued with a higher yield than a bond representing a talentwith a high Star Power Index rating.

A warrant with a strike price is attached to the new derivative when itis offered. When the derivative and warrant are first issued, thewarrant is of no value until the strike price is reached. For a stock,the strike price could be reached after the movie has grossed a certainlevel of revenue. When a derivative is delisted from the exchange, astock due to the movie ending its production run or a talent due toretirement or death, for example, the warrants are called and thetraders are paid the value of the warrants, thus providing off-balancesheet financing for studios.

With reference to FIG. 3, a flowchart illustrating the logic of thepricing/trading program of the present invention is shown. Block 300represents the server computer 14 retrieving the buy and sell ordersthat have accumulated in the queue during the period since the priorsweep pricing cycle. Block 302 represents the server computer 14matching the buy orders with the sell orders, although it is likely thanan identical number of buy and sell orders would not have accumulated inthe queue during the period. Block 304 represents the server computer 14executing the generate market price program described in FIG. 4 todetermine the market price for the derivative financial instruments.After the market price is determined, block 306 represents the servercomputer 14 updating the traders' portfolios to reflect the buy and sellorders in the queue being processed at the market price. Block 308represents the end of the pricing/trading program.

With reference to FIG. 4, a flowchart illustrating the logic of thegenerate market price program of the present invention is shown. Onepurpose of the generate market price logic is to generate a market pricefor a derivative financial instrument that reflects the demand or lackof demand for the derivative financial instrument in the market. Block400 represents the server computer 14 measuring the imbalance betweenthe buy and sell orders during the period since the prior sweep pricingcycle. Block 402 represents the server computer 14 determining the pricemovement of a derivative financial instrument caused by the imbalance inbuy and sell orders. Block 404 represents the server computer 14executing a virtual specialist program as described in FIG. 5 to providestability and liquidity to the market. Block 406 represents the servercomputer 14 executing the stop trade program, as described in FIG. 6, tostop trading in a derivative financial instrument if the projected pricemovement is excessive during the trading day and threatens the integrityof the market for that instrument. Block 408 represents the servercomputer 14 setting the market price, which becomes the price thepricing/trading program uses to update the traders' portfolios. Block410 represents the end of the generate market price program.

In measuring the imbalance between buy and sell orders, as representedby block 400, the absolute difference between the number of sells andthe number of buys is defined as the net movement in sweep (NMS). Asweep increment variable (SIV) is defined as the increase or decrease inprice caused by an incremental imbalance in the number of buy orders andsell orders. A lot movement variable (LMV) represents the incrementallot size that will result in a price increase or decrease of one SIV.The projected price movement (PM) can be expressed as: PM=(NMS/LMV)*SIv.

For example, with 42,000 buy orders and 30,000 sell orders for aparticular stock, the NMS=(42,000−30,000)=12,000. With SIV=$0.25 andLMV=5000, the price movement of the particular stock will be(12,000/5,000)*0.25=$0.50. Thus, the market price of the particularstock will be $0.50 greater than the last trading price.

With such pricing scheme, there is the potential for great volatility inthe price of a derivative financial instrument and the eventual loss ofinvestor confidence in the market mechanism. In exchanges such as theHollywood Stock Exchange, it would be possible for one or moreindividuals to pursue trading strategies that would purposely causedrastic price fluctuations.

In order to encourage growth and stability in the capital marketregulated by the trading system of the present invention, a virtualspecialist program is executed by the server computer, as represented byblock 404 in FIG. 4. In executing the virtual specialist program, theserver computer 14 regulates the trading by actively trading in themarket out of a virtual specialist portfolio (VSP). In one embodiment ofthe present invention, the virtual specialist program portfolioinitially contains half of all the issued shares of each derivativefinancial instrument.

With reference to FIG. 5, a flow diagram illustrating the logic of thevirtual specialist program of the present invention is shown. Block 500is a decision block that represents the server computer 14 determiningwhether the price movement during the sweep pricing cycle is greater orequal to an adjusted price movement threshold (APT). The APT is aconstant in the memory of the server computer 14. If the APT is greaterthan the price movement, then the server computer 14 does not trade inthe market. If the price movement is greater than or equal to the APT,then the server computer 14 trades out of a virtual specialist programportfolio. The level of trading by the server computer 14 is determinedby the amount that the price movement exceeded the APT. The greater theprice movement, the more shares the server computer 14 trades to offsetthe price movement.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the ATP=1.25 andthe server computer 14 performs the following steps: if PM=APT then theserver computer 14 matches 10% of unmatched shares; if PM=APT+0.25 thenthe server computer 14 matches 20% of unmatched shares; if PM=APT+0.50then the server computer 14 matches 30% of unmatched shares; ifPM=APT+0.75 then the server computer 14 matches 40% of unmatched shares;if PM=APT+1.0 then the server computer 14 matches 50% of unmatchedshares; if PM=APT+1.25 then the server computer 14 matches 60% ofunmatched shares; if PM=APT+1.50 then the server computer 14 matches 70%of unmatched shares; if PM=APT+1.75 then the server computer 14 matches80% of unmatched shares.

Block 502 represents the server computer 14 generating a buy or a sellorder to offset the price movement. The buy or sell order generated bythe server computer 14 is placed in the queue with the trader buy andsell orders to be processed during the next sweep cycle.

In one embodiment of the present invention, since the virtual specialistprogram portfolio initially includes half of all the securities traded,the server computer 14 could eventually deplete the virtual specialistprogram portfolio or cause the virtual specialist program portfolio toown all the shares of a stock. In order to maintain a balanced virtualspecialist program portfolio, and provide some liquidity to the market,the server computer 14 generates additional buy and sell orders tooffset orders generated in response to the price movement exceeding theAPT. Block 504 represents the server computer 14 generating timed buyand sell orders. In one embodiment of the invention, the server computer14 assesses each stock and each bond in the virtual specialist programportfolio. The server computer 14 determines the deficit or surplus inthe item, and then places 1/288^(th) of the deficit as a “timed recoveryorder” into each successive 15 minute segment for the next 3 days. Whenthe pricing/trading program 255 matches buy and sell orders asrepresented by block 320, the pricing/trading program 255 includes any“timed recovery orders” outstanding for the last 3 days in the sweep.These orders are matched with the traders' buy and sell orders. Block506 represents the end of the virtual specialist program.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating the logic of the stop tradingprogram of the present invention. Block 600 represents the servercomputer 14 determining the price movement of a stock caused by theimbalance in buy and sell orders. Block 602 represents the servercomputer 14 measuring the price movement on the day, not just during thesweep cycle period. Block 604 is a decision block that represents theserver computer 14 determining whether the net price movement (NPM)within one “trading day” (i.e., midnight-midnight) is greater than 50%up or down. As represented by block 606, the buy and sell orders areremoved from the queue if the net price movement is greater than 50% fora stock trading above $20. At that point, the trading in that issue isstopped within the 15 minute period until further notice. All orders(buy and sell) for that stock during this sweep are unfilled. Thetrading has stopped due to “excessive order imbalance”.

For example, let it be assumed that the Last Trading Price (LTP) for“Rambo-17” is $67 (+7.5 on-the-day). During one 15-minute sweep pricingcycle, the server computer 24 receives buy orders for 655,000 shares of“Rambo-17”. In addition, the server computer 14 receives sell orders for35,000 shares of “Rambo-17” during the same sweep pricing cycle. Theserver computer 14 evaluates the price movement for the sweep pricingcycle, and tests it to see if the net projected price movement“on-the-day” is greater than 50%. If it would be greater than 50%, itstops trading in that instrument only. In this example, there is a netorder-imbalance of 620,000 shares, which would create an up movement inprice of (+620,000/5000)*$0.25=+$31.00. Since the total movement on theday would be the $7.50 so far plus the additional $31.00, the netprojected price movement on the day would be $31.00+$7.50=$38.50. If theopening price that day was $59.50, the percentage projected pricemovement for the day is $38.50/$59.50=64%. Since the projected net pricemovement would be greater than 50%, the trading is stopped for thatinstrument. If the projected price movement was less than 50%, the priceof the instrument would be adjusted accordingly and trade in that stockcontinued. Block 608 represents the STOP TRADE order that issuesregarding the particular stock. Traders who issued a buy or sell orderfor the stock are notified that the order has not been filled due toexcessive order imbalance during the trading day. Finally, block 610represents the end of the stop trading program.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in connectionwith preferred embodiments, many variations and modifications as will beevident to those skilled in this art may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention, and the invention is thus not tobe limited to the precise details of methodology or construction setforth above as such variations and modification are intended to beincluded within the scope of the invention.

1. A method for trading a plurality of derivative financial instruments,comprising: receiving a first order to buy a derivative financialinstrument that selectively represents an entity associated with anentertainment-oriented asset; receiving a second order to sell saidderivative financial instrument; setting a market price of saidderivative financial instrument; and executing a trade at the set marketprice.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the set market priceis represented by electronic currency.
 3. The method according to claim2, further comprising debiting a first account controlled by a firsttrader who issued said first order in the electronic currency for theexecuted trade, and crediting a second account controlled by a secondtrader who issued said second order with proceeds in the electroniccurrency for the executed trade.
 4. The method according to claim 3,wherein the electronic currency is Hollywood dollars.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the set market price is indicative of thetraders' interest in said entity associated with anentertainment-oriented asset.
 6. The method according to claim 1 whereinthe market price is set based on at least one of the received first andsecond orders.
 7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the marketprice is set based at least in part on criteria associated with theentity.
 8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the entity associatedwith the entertainment-oriented asset is a movie in an entertainmentindustry.
 9. The method according to claim 8 wherein the moviecorresponds to a stock for trading over the Internet.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 8 wherein the set market price reflects a currentproduction status of said movie.
 11. The method according to claim 8wherein the set market price is indicative of the traders' interest insaid movie such that a potential box office revenue for said movie maybe predicted far in advance of the movie release.
 12. The methodaccording to claim 8 further comprising setting a price for a new stockoffering on the basis of a potential box office revenue for the movierepresented by said new stock offering.
 13. A system for trading aplurality of derivative financial instruments, comprising: means forreceiving a first order to buy a derivative financial instrument thatselectively represents an entity associated with anentertainment-oriented asset; means for receiving a second order to sellsaid derivative financial instrument; means for setting a market priceof said derivative financial instrument; and means for executing a tradeat the set market price.
 14. The system according to claim 13, whereinthe set market price is represented by electronic currency.
 15. Thesystem according to claim 14, further comprising means for debiting afirst account controlled by a first trader who issued said first orderin the electronic currency for the executed trade, and means forcrediting a second account controlled by a second trader who issued saidsecond order with proceeds in the electronic currency for the executedtrade.
 16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the electroniccurrency is Hollywood dollars.
 17. The system according to claim 13,wherein the set market price is indicative of the traders' interest insaid entity associated with an entertainment-oriented asset.
 18. Thesystem according to claim 13 wherein the market price is set based on atleast one of the received first and second orders.
 19. The systemaccording to claim 13 wherein the market price is set based at least inpart on criteria associated with the entity.
 20. The system according toclaim 13 wherein the entity associated with the entertainment-orientedasset is a movie in an entertainment industry.
 21. The system accordingto claim 20 wherein the movie corresponds to a stock for trading overthe Internet.
 22. The system according to claim 20 wherein the setmarket price reflects a current production status of said movie.
 23. Thesystem according to claim 20 wherein the set market price is indicativeof the traders' interest in said movie such that a potential box officerevenue for said movie may be predicted far in advance of the movierelease.
 24. The system according to claim 20 further comprising meansfor setting a price for a new stock offering on the basis of a potentialbox office revenue for the movie represented by said new stock offering.25. A computer-readable storage medium for storing program code meansfor, when executed, causing a computer to perform a method for trading aplurality of derivative financial instruments over the Internet,comprising: receiving a first order to buy a derivative financialinstrument that selectively represents an entity associated with anentertainment-oriented asset; receiving a second order to sell saidderivative financial instrument; setting a market price of saidderivative financial instrument; and executing a trade at the set marketprice.
 26. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 25wherein the set market price is represented by electronic currency. 27.The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 26 furthercomprising means for debiting a first account controlled by a firsttrader who issued said first order in the electronic currency for theexecuted trade, and means for crediting a second account controlled by asecond trader who issued said second order with proceeds in theelectronic currency for the executed trade.
 28. The computer-readablestorage medium according to claim 27 wherein the electronic currency isHollywood dollars.
 29. The computer-readable storage medium according toclaim 25 wherein the set market price is indicative of the traders'interest in said entity associated with an entertainment-oriented asset.30. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 25 whereinthe market price is set based on at least one of the received first andsecond orders.
 31. The computer-readable storage medium according toclaim 25 wherein the market price is set based at least in part oncriteria associated with the entity.
 32. The computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 25 wherein the entity associated with theentertainment-oriented asset is a movie in an entertainment industry.33. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 32 whereinthe movie corresponds to a stock for trading over the Internet.
 34. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 32 wherein the setmarket price reflects a current production status of said movie.
 35. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 32 wherein the setmarket price is indicative of the traders' interest in said movie suchthat a potential box office revenue for said movie may be predicted farin advance of the movie release.
 36. The computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 32 further comprising setting a price for anew stock offering on the basis of a potential box office revenue forthe movie represented by said new stock offering.
 37. A method fortrading a plurality of derivative financial instruments, comprising:receiving a first order to buy a derivative financial instrument thatselectively represents a talent in an entertainment industry; receivinga second order to sell said derivative financial instrument; setting amarket price of said derivative financial instrument; and executing atrade at the set market price.
 38. The method according to claim 37further comprising setting a price for a new bond offering on the basisof the talent's popularity rating in the entertainment industry, suchthat one bond representing one talent with a low popularity rating isissued with a higher yield than another bond representing another talentwith a high popularity rating.
 39. The method according to claim 37wherein the talent is a movie talent.
 40. The method according to claim39 wherein the movie talent corresponds to a bond for trading over theInternet.
 41. The method according to claim 39 wherein the set marketprice is indicative of the traders' interest in said movie talent suchthat a potential box office revenue for a movie including said movietalent may be predicted far in advance of movie release.
 42. A systemfor trading a plurality of derivative financial instruments, comprising:means for receiving a first order to buy a derivative financialinstrument that selectively represents a talent in an entertainmentindustry; means for receiving a second order to sell said derivativefinancial instrument; means for setting a market price of saidderivative financial instrument; and means for executing a trade at theset market price.
 43. The system according to claim 42 furthercomprising setting a price for a new bond offering on the basis of thetalent's popularity rating in the entertainment industry, such that onebond representing one talent with a low popularity rating is issued witha higher yield than another bond representing another talent with a highpopularity rating.
 44. The system according to claim 42 wherein thetalent is a movie talent.
 45. The system according to claim 44 whereinthe movie talent corresponds to a bond for trading over the Internet.46. The system according to claim 44 wherein the set market price isindicative of the traders' interest in said movie talent such that apotential box office revenue for a movie including said movie talent maybe predicted far in advance of movie release.
 47. A computer-readablestorage medium for storing program code means for, when executed,causing a computer to perform a method for trading a plurality ofderivative financial instruments, comprising: receiving a first order tobuy a derivative financial instrument that selectively represents atalent in an entertainment industry; receiving a second order to sellsaid derivative financial instrument; setting a market price of saidderivative financial instrument; and executing a trade at the set marketprice.
 48. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 47further comprising setting a price for a new bond offering on the basisof the talent's popularity rating in the entertainment industry, suchthat one bond representing one talent with a low popularity rating isissued with a higher yield than another bond representing another talentwith a high popularity rating.
 49. The computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 47 wherein the talent is a movie talent.
 50. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 49 wherein the movietalent corresponds to a bond for trading over the Internet.
 51. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 49 wherein the setmarket price is indicative of the traders' interest in said movie talentsuch that a potential box office revenue for a movie including saidmovie talent may be predicted far in advance of movie release.